July 13, 2007

Last weekend, we began a new format for our Sunday morning worship service at South Brunswick High School.  For starters, we have moved into a new space at the school that I feel will bring a greater level of intimacy and chemistry to the worship of our heavenly Father.  We now have cozy café-style tables and chairs, and you are welcome to bring your coffee with you into the service.  One of our early visions for Journey 2L2’s Sunday morning worship is that it would be a place that would build up the Journey 2L2 community and allow us to worship God is a non-traditional format.  Bringing vision to reality is often a long process of trial and error, and I welcome your feedback as we continue to create Journey 2L2 into all that God has for her. 

Another element of our vision is that we want to give permission to all styles and types of music and the arts.  While we have already seen some pieces of that vision, this Sunday, we will have two guest musicians open our worship time with a set of current contextual music.  I know you will love it and it will really open your eyes to a different style of worship. 

Also last weekend, we revealed ArkAlmighty to you.  ArkAlmighty is a good deeds program that matches up skills and needs.  It’s like a “Craig’s-list” for loving God and loving people.  How does it work?

1.  Go to www.Journey2L2.org and click on the ArkAlmighty icon on the front page.

2.  Post your skills or your needs.  (Your identity is totally anonymous, except to the person you help or who helps you, and the church administrator, Teresa Vann.)

2.  While you are posting, look at the needs that are already listed, you might have the exact skill set needed for the job!

3.  Once someone clicks on the posted need and agrees to help, a private email is sent connecting the two of you together. 

This is a great resource that you could direct your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to.  It’s not just for us, it’s for the whole community.  A simple post of a resource brings an individual a little closer to being truly human.  Remember it was Jesus who first said, “If you want to be who God made you to be, you need to first love God and then love others.”  By sharing this opportunity with someone, you will become partners with God in changing the world.

When the first churches came into being, their history was recoded in the New Testament book of Acts.  It was here that we see how they made it a very high priority to make sure no one was in need, and they did this by sharing their skills and their resources – I bet they wish they had ArkAlmighty!

This coming Sunday, I will be talking about what a God-ordained community looks like and the benefits to those who are a part of it. 

Don’t forget to bring in your items for the Summer Fun Bags this weekend, and the plan to join us after the worship service as we put these bags together for school-aged children currently living in homeless shelters. 

Looking forward to serving with you!

Bob

Journey2L2.org © 2007